The New Earth Adventures of Chloe Sullivan
by Hammard
Summary: This is an attempt to introduce Chloe of Smallville into the mainstream world of DC without Chlois. The continuity is not completely of either universe but striking a balance. This is my first attempt so please provide feedback, comments and questions.
1. Issue One: Familiar Faces

The New Earth Adventures of Chloe Sullivan

Issue 1: Familiar Faces

_The story opens in a jungle scene at night, filled with overhanging trees, vine and a general sense of gloom. Yet up ahead a light shines through. In a cavern where scientists are conducting what seem to be complex tests on an object that would look more at home amongst archaeologists. The artefact is black and grey yet it gives a sense of not quite being all there. As the lab-coated figures continue their tests they are unaware they are being watched, through one of their own cameras, by an unknown observer._

* * *

_In Metropolis in the Managing Editor's office of the Daily Planet, at 10:30 in the morning according to the clock on the wall, Lois is once again arguing with Perry White, who is not only irritated by her stubbornness but also by the new dieting patch Alice bought him, which itches his arm continuously._

Lois: ...but Chief! Why does this have to be me and Clark? Surely we're better than this!

Perry: Don't you Chief me! You two may be the best god damn reporting team in this city, but you're still my reporters and this is the most important damn story we've got in this town!

Lois: What about Mexico?

Perry: Evans is down there and the travel ban is still in place on all "non-essential persons". _[Imitating quote marks in the air]_

Lois: The Middle-East?

Perry: There's a team already assigned to it and on their way out

Lois: Can't we join them?

Perry: You know Mr Wayne's accountants wouldn't agree to that even if I would, which I don't

Lois: Car workers strike in Central City?

Perry: Harley... Look Lois this story is important. This discovery may have consequences for our understanding of the history of life on this planet.

Lois: Or it could be what it looks like. A lump of old rock!

Perry: Okay, Okay. I'm gonna make this real simple. Either you cover the museum piece with Clark or you can be covering lost kittens story solo for the next month.

* * *

_Later that day at the Science Exporium, quite a crowd of reporters gathered, many from the scientific journals but also some mainstream reporters gathered out of a desire to serve the public interest and a slow news day. Clark and Lois are near the front of the small conference hall sitting in their usual positions._

Clark: Quite a number of familiar faces

Lois: I guess they couldn't get out of it either

_Clark smiles amused_

_At the back end of the room, a blonde reporter strolls around like she owns the museum and everyone in it. As she does so she occasionally looks at a part of the room, then checks her watch. She moves easily around the crowded space being elegant and subtle, powerful and unnoticeable, in every movement. Her actions are interrupted as a man in a ill fitting suit and unkempt hair calls everyone to attention._

Professor Ignazi: um... members of...er ... of the... of the press.... can I ask you all... all to take your seats please.

_The professor then begins to give a long and boring speel about what was known about the artefact, (which according to what can be seen Lois' notes could have been summed up in five lines). Eventually the presentation finishes._

Professor Ignazi: We... we... we will now take some que...questions.

Lois: _[Standing Up]_ Lois Lane, Daily Planet. How long will the artefact be held at the museum and will it be on display to the public?

_This question was answered not by Professor Ignazi but by the museum director, a man who looked more like a lawyer than a doctor. He had the expressions and mannerisms of an upright gecko. His smile could comfort his friends and unnerve his opponents._

The Director: Now Mrs Lane-Kent, that was rather cheeky of you! Asking two questions in one _[smiles a crocodilic smile]_. But I will answer for such a distinguished, and beautiful, journalist.

_Amused but respectful looks pass among the assembled journalists. Most are press snobs and believed everything they saw on the Lexcom news and read the Daily Planet and their own papers, dismissing most others as biased, tabloid rags or both. Many of them were also single men and still harboured desires for Metropolis' famed reporter._

The Director: In answer to the first question, about three weeks whilst the experts study it in full. To the second question, unfortunately not. The artefact will be kept in the vault directly underneath this room. It is very valuable and maybe only superman could get inside.

The Director: Yes, you, the Blonde lady.

Blonde lady: _[Standing Up]_ As the Director of this museum, how do you respond to claims this was a sacred relic of the Mbunuyu of the Sornliu, which was taken without prior permission.

The Director: Well Mrs... I'm sorry, I didn't catch who you were.

Chloe Sullivan: Chloe Sulivan, the Green Flag. And it's Miss if you must know.

_Clark and Lois look shocked independently on hearing the familiar name._

The Director: Well Miss If You Must Know...

_Several journalists laugh at the appalling attempt at humour._

The Director: ... the museum refutes these allegations, although they are the first I've heard of them. The artefact was bought fairly from the local landowner. Now next question.

_But Chloe does not sit down._

Chloe: Then how do you respond to further allegations that the self-same landowner has been responsible for displacing the Mbunuyu from the region or does the museum feel that the pursuit of science overrides human rights.

_The Director grew perceptibly colder._

The Director: _[with Venom]_ Well, **Miss** Sullivan, we **again** refute these allegations. This institution takes a strong stance on human rights, only this year we started a committee to discuss the feasibility of divestment from arms investment. Although this selective evidence does not surprise me coming from a two-bit hack working for a conspiracy rag like The Green Flag.

_Many of journalists titter among themselves, apparently agreeing with The Director's disdain. Clark and Lois however still sit in shocked silence._

* * *

_After the press conference is over Clark and Lois are at the standard press buffet laid on by the museums. However, both seem far away._

Lois: Hey I have to go meet someone. See you at the Press Club for lunch at half one.

Clark: No problem. I have to run an errand myself. See you soon.

_They kiss on the cheeks and go their separate ways_

* * *

_A few blocks away. Chloe is working on her laptop in a Wi-Bro cafe, apparently on her story. The place is busy with business men at this time of day. She sits on a corner stool at an L-Junction in the abstract layout design, meaning that her screen could not be seen by others. From both sides of the junction she heard "Chloe". Looking up she sees both Clark and Lois standing at opposite points of the junctions. "Oh" they say, again in Unison._

* * *

_Later, at the Press Club, Clark, Chloe and Lois all sit together chatting about the old times._

Chloe: This is so weird. You're telling me that neither of you knew about this.

Lois and Clark _[in unison]_: No not at all. _[Look at each other and share a smile]_

Chloe: I'm amazed we never met up before

Lois: I didn't know what happened to you. You just disappeared from my radar, back when we moved to Fort Richards. You must have been, oh, thirteen.

Chloe: I kept writing to you, I just never got any replies. I eventually gave up, I thought you must have gone abroad.

Lois: _[Laughs] _That's the army for you! They can send a cruise missile to the other side of the planet but don't bother forwarding your mail.

Chloe: _[Jokingly]_ Well maybe it would of help if you told me when you were going to be moving about. I still can't believe the world famous reporter didn't deduce that two people in Smallville at the same time might meet. It's hardly the biggest town in America.

Clark: I think that may have been my fault. When I first started at the Planet I used to talk about you a bit too much. I used to say "Chloe would have done it this way" or "Chloe would've worked that out way before now." It got to the point where she would throw things at me.

Lois: He's exaggerating...

Clark: It was just lucky I was a good catch. I guess that, because of that, she was never able to connect the dots.

Lois: I imagined that this Chloe must have been such a witch that I couldn't have thought it was you. I didn't think you could have survived out in Hicksville for that long.

Chloe: _[jokingly]_ Do I detect a bit of jealousy? I wouldn't have expected that coming from someone like you (!)

Lois: _[smiling] _Well you have to be competitive with other journalists or you get left behind.

Chloe: Wel..._[She sees a look from Clark and knows it means to change the subject]_l how is life at the old DP?

_Some time later_

Chloe looks at her watch

Chloe: Well it was great catching up with you guys but I have to go look for a motel.

Lois: _[Concerned] _Hasn't the Flag organised one for you already?

Chloe: No we all make our own arrangements. It's not got the circulation of the Planet so we don't get expense accounts.

Lois: Well then you'll have to stay with us.

Chloe: No, you're very welcome but I couldn't intrude on you.

Lois: _[Mock frown]_ Chloe, I haven't changed that much since we were younger. Now are you going to come and stay with us or do I have to pin you to the wall with cutlery again

Chloe: _[Laughs]_ That was only once and I am certain a carving knife shouldn't count.

Clark looks concerned and shocked

Lois: Oh you worry too much. You should know I don't miss. Now Chlo will you stay.

Chloe: _[Laughs]_ Okay then, but only because I don't want to get you banned from here.

* * *

_Following a Taxi ride back to Sullivan place, interrupted only briefly by a stop at the Planet during which Chloe remained outside, Lois, Clark and Chloe enter into the apartment._

Chloe: I like the address, it's very catchy.

Lois: Feeling a bit narcissistic?

_Chloe gives her joking look_

Chloe: I can't help it if it sounds good.

_Chloe turns to the see the main window in the apartment is awed by the view. For the first time today she is speechless._

Lois: Amazing view isn't it. We were really lucky to get the place.

_Chloe looks out of the window where she can see the two architectural icons of Metropolis, The Daily Planet and the Lexcorp building. When she was younger she would have seen it is an icon of the good and evil which could exist in the world. Now, older and wiser it was just the city itself that she found iconic, however rotten to the core._

* * *

_Later on Lois left to meet one her scientific contacts to see if she could get anything more about the artefact, leaving Clark and Chloe alone in the apartment together. After an awkward silence Clark decides to break it._

Clark: Chloe, I...

Chloe: There's no need to say anything I understand.

Clark: But I mean... I was just a silly kid back then.

Chloe: I know. I don't blame you for it. Honestly, I don't. You had to do what you had to do. I mean I can't expect you to help me out just because I have problems. You had your own ones to deal with.

Clark: It was just that L...

Chloe: _[Combination of slight anger and sadness being held back]_ Don't say it Clark. Just don't.

_Another awkward silence emerges. Only interspersed by the minute beeps of Chloe's watch. After a while Chloe tries to break it._

Chloe: So why didn't you tell Lois?

Clark: About what?

Chloe: Oh come on Clark, about us. I can read you like an open book. You're hardly the best guy at keeping secrets

Clark: Oh that... Well, its not like it meant nothing... It's just that she can get so jealous... and what with you being a reporter...

Chloe:_ [Smiles] _You know I'd forgotten how cute you are when you're nervous.

_For that moment all the feelings they once had came back, the love, the jealousy, the hate, the tears, the laughs and companionship they'd shared. But the moment is interrupted by the return of Lois who sits down between them._

Lois: I wait for half an hour and my source doesn't even show up. I'm filled with enough coffee to be up for hours.

* * *

_Hours later Chloe went to sleep on the coach. Clark changed into Superman and went out on patrol whilst Lois took some sleeping pills to counter the effects of the mammoth coffee she took. Because of this she did not hear as the dark figures crept into the apartment._

* * *

_In the early hours of the morning, Clark rushed home after hearing Lois scream. When he got in through the window he saw Lois standing in the bedroom doorway._

Clark: What's wrong?

Lois: It's Chloe! They've taken Chloe!

_Clark hugs Lois, both of them in shock for losing someone so special they'd only just found again._

To Be Continued in: Issue 2: The Gambit.


	2. Issue Two: The Gambit

The New Earth Adventures of Chloe Sullivan

Issue 2: The Gambit

_The story opens in the Kent apartment as the lock is picked and the front door opens. Dark figures enter the room, dressed entirely in black and gray camouflage outfits. They then proceed towards Chloe's sleeping body. One of them treads on a pencil, which breaks, and Chloe's eyes open. The figure nearest to her covers her mouth with their hand and holds her down across the chest and by her right arm. Another figure gets out a syringe and begins to fill it. Chloe's eyes widen as she carefully retrieves something from her left pocket and moves her hand subtly on the underside of the blanket. She is interrupted as the nearest figure injects a solution into her arm which makes her become limp and her eyes to shut. The figure who had just injected her picks her up and carries her out of the room as the dark blue blanket falls to the floor. Another picks up her laptop and retrieves her bag. The third takes some assorted possessions from the sides, a vase, a small figurine, and a lamp. He then quietly places some books on the floor in a scattered fashion and overturns some of the furniture. The final camouflaged figure then leaves, with the apartment in a ramshackled manner._

* * *

_In the early hours of the morning, Clark rushed home after hearing Lois scream. When he got in through the window he saw Lois standing in the bedroom doorway._

Clark: What's wrong?

Lois: It's Chloe! They've taken Chloe!

_Clark hugs Lois, both of them in shock for losing someone so special they'd only just found again._

* * *

_As the sunrise began filtering into the apartments of Sullivan Place, Clark entered through the front door, in a distressed state of ultra organisation, focussed only on finding her._

Clark: I can't find any trace of her or whoever was in here. I contacted the Metropolis PD but they won't register her as a missing person yet, only sought out the break in.

_Lois is sitting huddled up on the sofa, shivering in a state of shock. It is not just the disappearance of someone so close, she had had to grow used to that._

Lois: But I was here! I should have heard something, seen something.

_Clark sits down next to his wife to comfort her. He hated seeing Lois this upset and he thought that it was his job to protect her from all the pains of the world. Only no matter how fast or strong he was, he couldn't keep her away from the horrors that seemed to occur all around them._

Clark: _[Comfortingly] _Lois, this isn't your fault. You were heavily under. You can't blame yourself. If anything it is my fault. I am supposed be protecting the whole city. What if they had been after you? I can't even protect my own apartment.

_Lois slaps Clark lightly on the chest._

Lois: Clark, you can't go blaming yourself. You have a job to do. I just wished she'd have told us if she was in trouble. I wish I could believe this was just a robbery and she chased after them for us.

Clark: It's not. It's too well done. If they had really been in a hurry, the dust would have been more disturbed.

_Lois does not point out this was what she meant but instead leans closer to Clark. He looks at her even more concerned._

Clark: You're shivering. Here have this blanket. _Passes Chloe's fallen blanket from the floor._

_Lois takes the blanket from Clark but then drops it and looks at her hand._

Lois: Ew, Clark! It's got some kind of pink stain on it.

Clark: It must be some of Chloe's lipstick. It rolled on to floor with the Blanket. _He picks up the lipstick as demonstration._ The Carmine must have leaked.

_Lois picks up the towel by the corner and peers at the gunk upon._

Lois: _[Curious]_ Hey this isn't just a spillage. There's something written on here.

_Lois stands up and slowly turns the towel over._

_Both Lois and Clark peer at it. On the back is scrawled in smudged but still readable lipstick SUPERMAN WATCH MUSEU which then becomes a smudge of pink_

* * *

_Chloe's eyes open to find herself in a locked room. It was not the worst she had been. In fact by comparison to some of the places she'd been imprisoned this was luxurious. It was clean, sterile and seemingly free from wildlife. The entire cell largely composes of what seemed to be hard white plastic, reminiscent of a hospital, except on one wall where it was instead clear and she could observe some scientists at work. She tried to move but founded her hands cuffed to a pole behind her. Looking around she failed to see any obvious means of escape, and, if her gambit had paid off, help wasn't going to be easy to find. She just hopes she doesn't end in the same way as the pawn._

_After a while of waiting Chloe decides to talk to someone in charge. She coughs loudly and deliberately and one of the lab-coated personnel came over to the wall._

Scientist: So, you are awake then?

Chloe: _[in an annoyed tone]_ apparently

Scientist: Fascinating. Your metabolic rate must be faster than I had anticipated. I estimated that dosage would keep you under for another two hours at least. Fascinating. _(Turns and walks away) _Fascinating...

Chloe: Hey!

_The Scientist turns back to Chloe with what seems to her as a combination of surprise and annoyance._

Chloe: I want to meet the person who organised this! I want to know why you took me!

Scientist: You'll meet him soon enough. Now be quiet. How can you expect us to work if you keep talking?

Chloe: You have locked me up, why should I want you to work on whatever new weapon of torture you are devising?

_The Scientist makes a signal to his co-worker almost imperceptibly. Chloe feels something shoot into her cheek even though she saw nothing. She tried to speak but found it impossible, like her entire lower face was no longer there. She looked up at the scientist staring hard into his eyes._

Scientist: Since you **are so** interested in my work you can be the first test subject for our new targeted paralysis solution or TSP. Don't worry, you'll be able to talk again in an hour. Assuming there are no side effects, it only killed about half the rats last time. _(Smiles)_

* * *

_Back at Sullivan Place, the message has given Lois new hope, emerging from bleak despair to her assertive organised self that Clark had fallen in love with. After getting changed at a speed that even impressed her spouse, she and Clark have decided that the last word must be museum and since they were at the Science Exporium only yesterday, Lois decides they should take a look and watch for any signs of Chloe. Clark is as keen, if not more so, to find her again. So, rather than wait for a taxi, Clark changes into his Superman outfit and flies them straight there at high speed._

_When they arrive they land unseen and Clark changes back into his work suit. Despite their keenness to find Chloe, they don't want to alert whoever took her that they may be on to them, as they could endanger her life._

* * *

_As her cousin and her high school love search for her above, Chloe is entrapped beneath them in the vaults of the museum. She has been unable to speak for quite some time and has passed the time rehearsing scenarios in her. She hopes it will all work, everyone needs to be in the right place at the right time._

_As she was musing about this plan, the scientist from earlier interrupts her thoughts. Without a warning he shoots a dart into her cheek._

Chloe: Ow! _She is surprised by the return of her power of speech_

Scientist: Good, the reversing agent seems quite effective.

_The Scientist enters the cell and retrieves the projectile, seemingly more concerned about his instrument than Chloe._

Scientist: The boss would like to speak to you now. Make sure you are talkative, I would hate to waste any more time on you already. The three batches we have used have to be restocked and I have much more important work to do.

_Chloe is taken aback, as the boss enters into the room. She had expected it to be reptilian Director, not the nervous unassuming Professor Ignazi. The professor comes to the cell standing in the entrance as he speaks to her._

Professor Ignazi: You seem surprised to see me.

Chloe: I was rather expecting to see the museum director in front of me... _[Uncertainly]_ and you seem to have lost your stutter.

Professor Ignazi: _[Laughs]_ Public relations. It is central to any business, an illicit one more so. That charming lawyer can deal with most law suits and awkward questions, especially, when he isn't aware that anything untoward is going on. And even if someone does suspect something, who would mistrust me, the bumbling professor, with his speech impediment and crazy hair.

Chloe: Well I must admit I was fooled, especially with your academic record. I though your field was more ancient than alien tech.

Professor Ignazi: That was how I began but in a field like historical engineering funding is limited. Who now cares how they built bridges in ancient Zimbabwe or why Tibetan monasteries survived such conditions? Especially when today we live among those of other planets and hear everyday of more meta-humans. What every organisation wants is to discover these secrets, and they care little for how they are attained. Now with Mr Luthor unable to compete on the same level, the market is open for entrepreneurs.

Chloe: So is that what you see yourself as? An entrepreneur? Like William Teach or Cortes?

Professor Ignazi: And it was these men who built nations. But I am not here to discuss ethics with a small time do-gooder from Star City. I am here to get some answers. _[More business like]_ Now, what do you know about the artefact?

Chloe: That it's not the first, you have plundered several sites around the globe. And that your next target is in the Canadian Yukon.

Professor Ignazi: And how would you know that?

Chloe: _[Smiles coyly]_ You don't expect me to tell you all my secrets right now.

Professor Ignazi: Oh, Miss Sullivan. Please don't make me resort to more brutal methods. Although they may be the height of fashion right now, I find them so inelegant.

Chloe: You wouldn't dare. If I screamed loudly enough someone would hear me upstairs.

Professor Ignazi: We are in a sealed lead vault underground. Unless you can scream in ultrasonic frequencies and planning on calling dog, no one will hear a thing. Now I repeat how do you know such things?

_Chloe remains silent. _

Professor Ignazi: Very well. _He retrieves a device from his pocket. It was metallic with a silver sheen and was fronted with two M shaped wires._ This handy gadget was attained from Lexcorp during their troubles. It enables immense pain to be sent to your receptors without any actual damage. _He turns the dial up to six and points it at Chloe._

_Chloe screams in pain. _

Chloe: _[Between screams]_ Your comm... _[Another scream]_ ...unications network.

_The Professor turns off the device and returns it to his pocket._

Chloe: _[Smiles faintly]_ You should improve your internet security.

Professor Ignazi: Well you are quite the computer expert.

Chloe: I dabble. Very ingenious of you, using ultrasonics as an information medium.

Professor Ignazi: Another gift of Lexcorp. _[Returns to business manner]_ Now, who do you work for? And remember the device.

Chloe: _[Reacts in memory of pain]_ I... work for the Green Flag and myself, that's all. I am just a journalist who has got in over her head.

Professor Ignazi: I believe you. Another nosy reporter who thinks they can stop progress. Besides, we will be able to break into your laptop soon and we will know all of this anyway.

Chloe: _[Quietly to herself]_ Yeah, good luck with that.

Professor Ignazi: _[Continues apparently not hearing her]_ Now that we know you probably won't have any backup coming after you, I think we will keep you for a while. We could use another human test subject, and they do tend to be so fragile. Now, if you will excuse me, I have important work to do. _Ignazi leaves closing the cell behind him._

_Chloe is pleased with herself. She has managed to find out everything she needs to know. All she has to do now is wait for the opportune moment._

* * *

_Back in the museum the search was beginning to look fruitless. Although the museum was mostly empty today, Clark couldn't risk using any of his explicit powers with all the cameras around, and his superman outfit might have been a bit conspicuous. He had looked behind most of the locked doors with his x-ray vision but it was not yielding any results. Lois' search was not going much better and she was beginning to wonder if she had led them further from Chloe as they met back up in the history of flight section._

Lois: Anything?

Clark: No, you.

Lois: No, nothing. What if she meant somewhere else? What if I've put us on a wild goose chase?

Clark: This is the most sensible place to check. She was here yesterday so I'm sure she has either been taken here or left some clue for us around.

Lois: But we've checked everywhere.

Clark: No, we haven't, let's look inside the conference room. She might have left us something in there.

* * *

_Back in the vault, Professor Ignazi renters the laboratory where Chloe is imprisoned in order to oversee the progress the scientists are making on the new version of the Moira serum. Chloe, although she was apparently searched, was not totally without resources. They had not bothered to remove her wristwatch anyway, not that they would have been able to without the code, or found the section she had on the inside lining of her back pocket, which was all she needed. She adjusted her hands down the pole and was able to get her fingernail into the right place. The compartment opens slowly and she teases out the small item._

_On the other side of the room the scientists were too engrossed to pay any attention to Chloe's actions or notice the odd smell. Suddenly a slight coughing starts coming from the communicator with the cell. At first they ignore it but then Ignazi looks up and sees Chloe slumped forward, hanging limp._

Professor Ignazi: _[With authority]_ I ordered the gaseous test not to start yet. Who did it?

_Other scientists look blank._

Professor Ignazi: _[Irritably]_ One of you knocked the button again didn't you! The nitrogen counter has already begun to drop marginally. Morons! You are meant to be the best scientific minds and all I get is fools!

_Ignazi puts on the gas extractor and opens the cell up in a gas mask. He walks towards Chloe slowly, she does not appear to be dead only unconscious, breathing slowly. At that moment Chloe springs into action, bringing up her foot to Ignazi's face so hard he spins out of the cell and lands face down on the floor. In the next second, she brings her arm over head like she's bowling a cricket ball with the naked flame heading straight towards the scientist's latest formula._

* * *

Clark: Did you just hear something? Like a small rumble.

_Clark and Lois have been looking around the conference room, which was surprisingly unlocked, and as of yet have found nothing._

Lois: No, you're probably hearing an undersea earth-tremor again. It seems completely silent to me. It makes me miss Chloe's conversation, we never seem to be able to stop talking once we start. Don't you find that?

Clark: Not really, we had some rather long silences only punctuated by that infuriating beeping her watch made.

Lois: Her watch didn't beep.

Clark: Are you sure? Maybe it's only on the super spectrum.

Lois: _[Having a revelation]_ Wait a second. What if watch didn't mean watch the museum? What if she wanted Superman to listen out for her watch? Knowing he, I mean you, would pick up the noise.

Clark: That's a long shot.

Lois: Just try it.

_Clark listened hard and he could hear it. The noise from Chloe's watch had a distinctive pattern of three beeps followed by a two and a quarter second silence. It was coming from directly below them. Not waiting any longer Clark spins into his Superman outfit, through the floor, acting like a drill through plywood table, and into the vault below._

_Superman is surprised by what he sees as he lands. He was expecting to fight the creeps who had taken his Chloe away but it appears the job has already been taken care of. Three scientists are collapsed near one wall, apparently unconscious from the force of the blast. On the floor are also the bodies of another lab coated man and Professor Ignazi, who Chloe is leaning over with a syringe._

Chloe: The same agent they used on me. Should keep them under for a good few hours, handy of them to have so much lying around. _(Chloe stands up)_ Well better late than never.

Superman: Are you hurt, miss?

Chloe: Yes, I'm fine, you should probably've been more worried about them. _Superman turns around._ But I've already checked them. They might feel like they have the mother of all hangovers when they wake up, but they've nothing that won't heal. And you can stop the miss. You've never called me that before.

Superman: I don't know what you mean, young lady.

Chloe: Come on Clark. I know it's you. I know you're Superman.

To Be Continued in: Issue 3: Unearthing the past.


	3. Issue Three: Unearthing The Past

The New Earth Adventures of Chloe Sullivan

Issue 3: Unearthing the Past

_Professor Ignazi renters the laboratory where Chloe is imprisoned in order to oversee the progress the scientists are making on the new version of the Moira serum. Chloe, although she was apparently searched, was not totally without resources. They had not bothered to remove her wristwatch, not that they would have been able to without the code anyway, or found the section she had on the inside lining of her back pocket, which was all she needed. She adjusted her hands down the pole and was able to get her fingernail into the right place. The compartment opens slowly and she teases out the small item. It is her microlighter, small and thin but burns with a strong blue flame. She manoeuvres it under the plastic cuffs and ignites it. The room had been resealed to be air tight, assumedly to test some gas soon, so the subsequent gaseous bi-product should set off the sensors changing the composition of the air in the cell which, with any luck, should mean they enter to investigate. _

_On the other side of the room the scientists were too engrossed to pay any attention to Chloe's actions or notice the odd smell. Chloe realises she needs to attract their attention or she may risk poisoning herself. When she was almost through the cuffs she begins making a slight coughing noise, hoping it's picked up by the listening devices they have. At the same time she slumps forward and waits, keeping her breath as light as she can. Eventually Ignazi approaches opening the cell up in a gas mask. Chloe waits carefully for him to come close enough, timing is everything and if she misses this could be her end. At the exact right moment Chloe springs into action, bringing up her foot to Ignazi's face so hard he spins out of the cell and lands face down on the floor. In the next second, she brings her arm over head like she's bowling a cricket ball with the naked flame of the microlighter heading straight towards the scientist's latest formula._

_The yellow glowing liquid in the bottles ignites blasting the three scientists closest to it up against the wall. This just leaves the scientist who had only a short while ago been testing one Chloe. She now notices him trying desperately to get to the emergency phone on the wall. She grabs a small scalpel from the table and holds it near to his throat._

Chloe: _[To his ear]_ Now I wouldn't phone security, at least if you want to use your trachea again.

_The scientist breathes fast and gulps. He had always had a position of power over his test subjects and now that the situation was reversed he felt much of the fear and anguish he had inflicted, on both man and beast._

Chloe: _[Still to his ear]_ Now, do you need to explain the explosion?

Scientist: _[Meekly] _No, they expect them to happen, unless we ask for help they don't investigate them.

Chloe: And monitoring device?

Scientist: _[Even more weakly] _No, we don't watch or record anything. It risks more evidence which could be found.

_Chloe believed him. She had encountered these kind of men before, they were cowards to the last and would tell you everything just to save their own skin. At that moment out of the corner of her eye one of the scientists hit by the blast beginning to crawl towards her. Thinking quickly she picks one of the syringes laced with paralysing agent from the rack near her. She then throws the head scientist across the floor and injects the crawling man with the formula. He gasps and falls unconscious quickly. She again does it to the head scientist with another batch before he can regain his footing resulting in him collapsing against the same wall as the other two men._

_With the whole of the laboratory now incapacitated she begins to check them medically. She cannot find any signs of permanent damage, some bruises and scrapes but nothing that will not heal. She however moves them all into the recovery position carefully before injecting them in order to ensure paralysis for long enough to fulfil her mission here._

_As she is injecting the final dosage of the serum into Professor Ignazi, who face is covered by a large bruise from the force of her foot, Chloe hears a churning noise, which she had been hoping for sometime earlier to make her life much easier. She still smiles to herself, she had been waiting for this conversation since her final year of high school._

_Superman fell through the ceiling, his spin slowing to a stop._

Chloe: The same agent they used on me. Should keep them under for a good few hours, handy of them to have so much lying around. _(Chloe stands up)_ Well better late than never.

Superman: Are you hurt, miss?

Chloe: Yes, I'm fine, you should probably've been more worried about them. _Superman turns around._ But I've already checked them. They might feel like they have the mother of all hangovers when they wake up, but they've nothing that won't heal. And you can stop the miss. You've never called me that before.

Superman: I don't know what you mean, young lady.

Chloe: Come on Clark. I know it's you. I know you're Superman.

_Clark is stunned. He temporarily lets down his superman armoured persona and becomes the awkward farm boy of his youth. He feels like he has been found in bed with a girl by his mother or that he skipped his farm chores to play football. It is not a feeling he ever wanted to return._

Clark: But when? ... how?

Chloe: I know you better than you know yourself. When investigating the strange happenings around Smallville, you really thought I wouldn't have found out your secret. Although, I can admit I did have a few pointers here and there. Catching a car like a football was a big one.

_Clark is still silent his face now moving from red to white._

Chloe: Don't worry Clark, I didn't expose you then, I'm not planning to now. You could always trust me, even if you never thought so.

Clark: Of course I trusted you Chloe....

Chloe: Look Clark, we can dig through our past later. For now, I need the help of Superman if he's willing.

_Clark looks at her, despite all his strength and power she was still just as in control as when they were in their teens. He straightens up and nods._

Chloe: Can you go back up to Lois and tell her to get the police. These people mustn't get away.

Clark: How did you know Lois was with me?

Chloe: _[Smiling]_ You would never go here without her, and she would kill if you tried.

_Clark smiled, still amazed at how well this page of his past knows him after all these years. He went to the hole he had drilled through the ground and shot up_

*********************************************************************************

_The metal door flew off its hinges and hit the other wall with a loud clang. Superman races through and down the corridor faster than the eye can see. When Chloe had intercepted their signals she had been able to get a plan of the base, even if it took some time to triangulate the location. Therefore Superman was headed straight for the computer centre._

_Inside two technicians are looking over some data printouts when the door bursts off its hinges and slams in to a console. In the blink of an eye the two labcoated figures are tied back to back by thick cabling and the electricity for the base begins to go off._

*********************************************************************************

_At the same time Chloe is not idle, she has already destroyed what remained of the chemical that had been in the laboratory and she now stands in front of another metal door, this one circular, like a bank vault. With the power off she is able to open it manually with relative ease. Inside is a room seemingly out of place with the whitewashed corridors and sterile laboratories outside. It is more reminiscent of the study of a retired professor lined with wood-panels and overfilled bookcases._

_Chloe wastes no time. She connects her laptop to the computer inside and quickly breaks through the firewall, one which Ignazi had thought impregnable revealing both his arrogance and Chloe's computer acumen. Working she finds the file she was looking for and begins examining it. _

_Soon Superman super speeds into the room almost managing to surprise Chloe._

Chloe: Is everyone accounted for?

Superman: All thirteen staff are incapacitated and I can't hear any more.

Chloe: Well then, Clark, you don't need to put on the ridiculous voice.

Superman: _[Speaking like Clark]_ Sorry. What have you found?

Chloe: What I thought was happening. Ignazi and his men have been stealing artefacts from around the world: Sornilu, Tibet, Uralistan. These are not however ancient earth artefacts but rather extra terrestrial. More specifically control discs.

Superman: _[Mildly confused]_ For what? Robots?

Chloe: No, for entire species. They could enslave entire worlds. Create armies or slaves in an instant. It appears Ignazi was attempting to harness the power from them.

Superman: Where are they being kept now?

Chloe: _[Typing into her laptop] _Hold on...

_Chloe looks perplexed_

Chloe: Apparently...where I am right now.

_She stands up as if expecting to find it stuck to the back of her jeans. Superman however is not confused and rips open the chair Chloe was sitting on. Inside sit the three control discs. The two of them share a smile._

Chloe: You better take these back to their rightful owners.

Superman: Then you better come with me.

Chloe: But someone needs to stay here and look after these creeps until Lois gets here with the police.

Superman: No need, I can hear the sirens stopping outside. It will take me a couple of minutes to hand over all these criminals to the authorities. It was your story first, you should see it all the way through. This might go some to making up for you missing your flight.

_Chloe glances almost imperceptibly back at her laptop and meets Clark's gaze with a grin._

Chloe: Okay. Let's finish the last story of Sullivan and Kent.

Clark: Or perhaps the first of a new chapter.

*********************************************************************************

_Flying with Clark was an experience she would never forget. It felt both exhilarating and awe inspiring, yet it was not frightening as some had described it. In Clark's arms she felt safe in spite of the massive speeds and heights. Together they returned each artefact to its rightful owners: a Buddhist monastery in the far reaches of the Himalayas almost untouched by the encroaching modernisation of its neighbours, to a research laboratory in Uralstan (now guarded by SON troops) and finally to the Mbunuyu in the Sornliu. There Superman promised to protect them from the local warlords and that he would return whenever they were in need._

*********************************************************************************

_Later, in the Managing Editor's office of the Daily Planet, Chloe, Clark and Lois, stand as Perry reads the copy of the story Lois and Clark have written. _

Perry: "And it was due once again to the intervention of Superman, with the aid of a plucky reporter, that Metropolis and the world are safe. Free from torture, free from madmen and free to live their lives in peace." _[He looks up from the copy] _Lane, Kent. You've done it again!

Lois: Thanks, Chief. But I still don't understand what they were developing down there.

Clark: Or who was really masterminding this operation. Surely the whole thing couldn't have been organised by a dozen technicians?

Perry: I hear questions. I don't see the follow up on my desk. _[Points at Lois and Clark]. _You two go get those answers. I'd like to have a talk with you, Miss Sullivan.

_Clark and Lois exit, leaving Perry and Chloe alone in a much more relaxed atmosphere._

Perry: _[Sits down in his chair and gestures for Chloe to sit opposite, which she does]. _It's been a long time.

Chloe: Yet it feels like only yesterday we were both investigating strange goings on in Smallville.

Perry: But since then I followed your career with interest. We lost such a bright young talent the day you left the Planet.

Chloe: You know why.

Perry: _Nostalgic. _To be young and idealistic.

Chloe: You believed it once too.

Perry: And look where it got me. Sometimes if you don't have the evidence to back it up, you can't print it.

Chloe: I did until they found out I was on to.

Perry: Anyway, let us not dwell on past disagreements. I wanted to say that I appreciate your work and am surprised you let our people have this story first.

Chloe: Well, your edition comes out before us. Besides, I still have my own account to tell, not that anyone much reads it.

_Perry moves over to his draw and slides a paper over to her, it is yesterdays edition of The Green Flag, headlined with "The True Cost of A Call: Rape and Violence in the Eastern Congo"._

Perry: Don't be disheartened by what those other fools out there say. Anyone who wants to know where the next story might break keeps an eye on The Green Flag. _[Leans back]. _If you ever fancy a change of pace, there is always a space for you.

Chloe: Thank you, Mr. White but I couldn't. The reasons why I left haven't changed. I like the freedom I have on the other coast, I am needed there. Besides, this old building holds too many dark memories.

Perry: Well, if you ever change your mind, just give me a call.

_They stand up and shake hands as equals._

Perry: And when you win that Pulitzer, don't forget to thank me in your acceptance speech.

*********************************************************************************

_Back at Sullivan Place, which was quickly restored back to its former state by Clark, Chloe is packing up her bags._

Lois: Do you really have to leave? We've hardly got to spend any time together.

Chloe: You should know better than anyone cuz, the news doesn't take a holiday, so neither can I. Besides James would have me flayed alive.

Lois: _[Laughs]_ Maybe he and Perry should meet, they sound like they'd get on like a house on fire.

_The two hug tightly more like close sisters than long lost cousins. _

Chloe: It's been great to see you, really it has. I forgot how much fun we used to have together.

Lois: You too, please come back again soon.

Chloe: Maybe I should. I'm sure I could scoop the next big story first.

Lois: _[Mock anger]_ Oh really miss internet-aholic? I could scoop you any day of the week.

_They both laugh again._

*********************************************************************************

_Chloe, now packed, sits next to Lois on the sofa. _

Chloe: Are you sure Clark is alright taking me to the airport? I don't want to stop him saving anyone.

Lois: No, not at all. He said he wanted to. I would come myself but I can't stay out 'til three in the morning and get up for work at seven, even with the wonder of caffeine. Talking of which, how are you liking the coffee?

Chloe: Its good thanks, it amazes me how much i miss the stuff when I go to parts of the world which don't yet have franchise coffee bars.

_Chloe takes another sip from the round white mug and looks at her watch._

Chloe: Actually, I may just take a walk outside and get a breath of fresh air.

Lois: _[Concerned] _It can be a bit dangerous at this time of night around here...

Chloe: _[Laughs] _Lois, I was held prisoner earlier today, I think I can survive a stroll around the block.

Lois: _[Sighs]_ Sorry, I forget that you're more than capable of looking after yourself. I guess I still think of you sometimes as the girl climbing the trees near the base fences.

Chloe: I wasn't the one who used to get stuck.

*********************************************************************************

_Outside Chloe rounds a corner and picks up the ringing Lex-Tel phone. The voice is deep and distorted._

Voice: Are you online?

Chloe: Watchtower is online

Voice: The serum?

Chloe: Deleted

Voice: Information

Chloe: Copied and deleted

Voice: Did he suspect anything?

Chloe: He believed me. I don't see why we need to lie to him. He could help us.

Voice: One day perhaps. He might try and stop us. He is never willing to do what needs to be done and because of that people suffer.

Chloe: But he is a good person, he has saved millions of people.

Voice: And how many millions have been lost because he waited to act. This is for the best. He would never approve of this.

Chloe: _[Apprehensive but accepting]_ Okay, I understand. What about the Yukon site?

Voice: It is buried in an ice cavern and I have it under surveillance. You have done well Watchtower, never doubt yourself.

Chloe: Understood, Watchtower offline.

*********************************************************************************

_Later Clark is driving Chloe to the airport in Lois' Lamborghini. For the first time the two old friends seem ill at ease._

Chloe:You sure you don't mind driving me I could have taken a cab.

Clark: Of course not. I could have got your offices in a minute if you wanted.

Chloe: _[Smiling again]_ A bit ostentatious don't you think? Anyway you suggested this.

Clark: Well, I wanted to talk... about us.

Chloe: What about us?

Clark: ...I'm sorry.

Chloe: _[Angrily]_ Clark don't!

Clark: I want to explain, what happened back then.

Chloe: You think I don't know. You had to see Lana. You had to explain everything. I ran into Lana a few years ago and I eventually dragged it out of her, not that I hadn't already guessed.

Clark: I tried to call you to apologise...

Chloe: And that was all you ever did. Apologise. Have good old Chloe forgive you. Well I was sick and tired of having to be the understanding friend. I thought that after high school things might be different, we could have done the long distance thing. I mean to you that's hardly an issue. But yet you still went to see her. Without a word to me. You had to go tell her your secret but you could never trust me.

Clark: Chloe, if I'd known...

Chloe: _[Almost shouting, but too upset to do so, and wiping away the tears]_ Don't you dare Clark! Don't you even try and blame this on me! You knew how I felt perfectly well and you went ahead anyway. I don't know whether you thought I was stupid or just a doormat but don't you even think about saying you didn't know how I felt. _[Gulps]_ You know I loved you, I guess I still do.

_Clark appears to be genuinely shocked by this revelation and turns into a deserted gas station. He moves to comfort her and she angrily tries to swat him away. However, soon the tears take over and she cries on to his shoulder letting out all the feelings of hate, anger and fury. The sadness, depression and angst she felt throughout high school but always held inside. The love and happiness that he brought into her life by just being there that made her feel a spring of happiness as he entered a room and smiled at her._

Chloe: _[Quietly]_ I still love you Clark, in spite of everything.

Clark: _[Quietly back]_ And I still love you Chloe, in spite of everything.

_The two move in closer to each other, eyes closed, their lips in position to kiss. At that moment their eyes open._

Clark: We should get going.

_The two sit up and the car returns to the freeway._

*********************************************************************************

_Soon they are cruising down the night-time road talking intensely_

Clark: So was there never anyone else?

Chloe: I had occasional boyfriends but none could compare to you... you don't **have** to look so pleased.

Clark: _[Smiling]_ What? I can't take a compliment.

Chloe: _[Smiling back]_ You can still melt me with that smile

Clark: I know. I guess old feelings like ours don't just disappear.

Chloe: I never stopped feeling that way about you, through all the anger and pain I still loved you.

_She then gets out her bag and opens a small zip inside it. She draws out a small photo._

Chloe: Everywhere I go, I still keep this. _She turns the photo to Clark._

_Looking at the picture, Clark recognises it. It is the two of them at the spring formal._

Clark: You've kept that all these years? I would have thought you would burn it.

Chloe: I once used it for darts practice in one of my more depressed period as a college sophomore but I have always cherished it. I think when that photo was taken was the last time my life was simple and happy.

Clark: Are you not happy now?

Chloe: Sort of. I love what I do but it certainly isn't simple or easy. Sometimes I think I would like to get an office job and settle down with Dick from accounting, get a place in the suburbs.

Clark: You'd hate that.

Chloe: _[Smiles]_ Yeah I know, its just the easy route is often so tempting, and it can be lonely at the top.

Clark: So you think you're the best do you?

Chloe: You know I am!

Clark: _[Laughs]_ Never doubted it for a second... just don't tell Lois.

Chloe: Wouldn't dream of it.

Clark: Still, is there no one in your life?

Chloe: I have the people I work with.

Clark: No boyfriends... or girlfriends?

Chloe: _[Narrowing her eyes]_ No Clark, no girlfriends. I think I intimidate guys.

Clark: I'm sure you don't...

Chloe: Try telling that to Rich.

Clark: Who was he?

Chloe: Oh, just some guy I dated for a while as a junior. He was smart, funny, really passionate about journalism.

Clark: So what went wrong?

Chloe: I got a higher GPA and he flipped out. Like I had cheated on him or something, it quickly went downhill from their and we were ended before we became seniors.

Clark: Chlo, that's not because of you intimidating him, that's because he just can't take how amazing you are. Its his loss.

Chloe: And who could take it? Someone like you?

Clark: _[Changing the subjects]_ So... no one else then, close friends, a cat?

Chloe: Not really I'm not around long enough to get close enough to those I don't work with. I hang out occasionally with a couple in the apartment above me but that's about it. Oh and there's Janet of course.

Clark: Oh, whose she? Another neighbour?

Chloe: _[Matter-of-factly]_ No, my coffee maker.

Clark: _[Laughing in suprise]_ You named your coffee maker?

Chloe: What? Its stood by me through thick and thin, better than many of the people I've known. I thought she deserved a name.

Clark: I'm sorry.

Chloe: You don't have to apologise. Words won't change the past. I managed to change my flight and get to the airport eventually.

Clark: Not for that. I put you through hell back then. Maybe you'd have been better off if we hadn't met.

Chloe: Don't ever say that. Those years we had together were some of the best of my life. You did me through horrible times, its true, but I wouldn't wish them away. I just wished we hadn't left it the way we had. I was going to tell you that I knew your secret on the way their. Maybe if things had been different we might have made a go of it. But I see what you have with Lois and I would want you to give that up.

Clark: And neither would I

*********************************************************************************

_At last they have reached the check-in and a great sadness permeates the air. _

Clark: Please stay Chloe. You know Perry admires your work, I'm sure you could work at the Planet again. We miss having you around. I miss you.

Chloe: _[Shakes her head]_ No Clark. Not this time. Maybe ten years ago, when we were younger and freer. But that life is behind. You have yours' here in Metropolis with Lois. I have mine in Star City and wherever I'm needed. If I stayed, I don't think those feelings I have would disappear, they would grow, and I could never do that to Lois. I spent most of high school having you leave me to run after Lana like a puppy dog, and every time it was like my heart being shattered. Someone would get hurt if I stay. This is the best way for everyone. _She then kisses him on the cheek._ Goodbye Clark.

_With this Chloe leaves alone, as it always is in the end._

Look out for the next adventure in: Issue 4: Billion Dollar Babies.


End file.
